Could Sonar be used on the moon?

Question

Hi,

I am not familar with Sonar technology, but i think its uses ultrasound right? Does that mean it needs a medium such as air for it to work? So does that mean it cannot be used on the moon? What other ways can we see below the surface of the moon?

Answer 1

Sonar does require a medium. A transmitter could be placed on the surface and propagate sonar into the moon to get subsurface images. On earth geologists and geophysicists do this. They sometime set off little explosive charges to make the wave. It bounces off boundaries below the surface and back to receivers.

Answer 2

No, sonar will will not work on the surface of the moon in the air (like bats emit and such) however, placing it against the ground will still work as it will have solid material to bounce back to us from. Radio waves are not like sonar because radio waves are electromagnetic waves where as sonar is a form of light wave (completely different). The radios can be heard because they are in the suits of the astronauts which contain oxygen, a medium for the sound waves to travel in.

Answer 3

sonar uses sound to echo-image it's target. Although the use of sonar as it is used on earth would not be possible without a transmission medium like air.

ground echo locating can be used because there is a means of transmitting sound (vibrations), it is the moon's crust.

The other means of seeing into the moon's crust is ground penetrating radar, which does not rely on an external transmission medium....it uses a tuned radio wave to produce it's images.

Answer 4

Sonar usually refers to water as it stands for Sound Navigation and Ranging. So obviously it can't be used on the moon. Acoustical waves travel through solids, liquids and gases, so there are imaging methods as described by other responders, that do work on the moon, since they don't need water or air to work.

Answer 5

Yes, works well in mapping geological items like volcanoes mountains and different layers in the ground.

All you really need is something to transmit and receive the wave forms of a sound that is produce. You can even produce a wave by pounding on a surface, explosions works well. Metals,rock, water, works and air works Different substance will bounce the wave back in different ways,


The NeuroSolutions' neural network engine will be used to accomplish processing of the sonar and radar signals to produce the visual imagery the robot will use for navigation. In addition, networks will be created for motor control to calculate the maximum amount of force that can be applied to the wheels at any given time.

http://www.neurosolutions.com/resources/darpa.html


Seismic reflection and refraction (SRR) are two closely related cost-effective techniques for studying the stratigraphy, hydrogeology, and bedrock topography of a potentially contaminated site.

http://www.columbia.edu/itc/barnard/envsci/bc1001/bfaref/seismicreflectionrefraction.html

Answer 6

it depends if the ultra sound equipment was in contact with the surface then the rock and or what ever substrate the moon is comprised of would be the medium of travel for the sonar waves

Answer 7

We have already ,on one of the moon missions they set up a seismograph on the moon and it sent radio signals to earth. After the men transferred from the LIM to the other module they fired the retries and crashed the LIM on the moon. The moon rang like a great bell for 30 min.

Answer 8

Yes, because sonar waves are related to radio waves, and astronauts have to use radio on the moon to communicate.